>> michael: coming up tonight, another day of arguments, another day of history, the supreme court takes on doma. it's a day of hope for lbgt advocates. i'm michael shure. you're in "the war room." [♪ theme music ♪] >> michael: today we saw courage and cowardice on full display in the supreme court, and history will judge which side the justices took. the court heard arguments on the defense of marriage act, or doma, its second case on gay

rights in as many days. the plaintiff is 83-year-old, edie windsor who was married to her wife in canada in 2007 after a four-decade-long engagement. they told their story in the aptly named documentary "the long engagement." >> i called a friend and i said [ inaudible ] and we ended up dancing. >> and we immediately just fit. our bodies fit. that feeling of attraction same is the same. each one of us in fact looks different from how we look when we met but when i look at edie

now, she looks exactly the same to me. and she'll say the same thing the other way. >> i, thia speiers choose you to be my lawfully wedded spouse. >> in sickness and in health. >> in sickness and in health. >> until death do us part. >> until death do us part. >> michael: because of doma edie was not allowed the same rights under the law that any other couple would be that meant she had to pay $360,000 in estate taxes because the government didn't recognize their marriage. today edie had her day in court. >> when my beautiful sparkling

thia died, i was over come with grief and within a month i was hospitalized with a heart attack. in the midst of my grief i realized that the federal government was treating us as strangers and i paid this hue amongous estate tax. >> michael: despite the overwhelming evidence that same-sex couples have hurt. the lawyer for doma said it wasn't hurting gay couples. but u justice kagan pointed to a bill in 1996 that ly showed that the bill passed in a climate of quote dislike and moral judgment of homosexuals.

>> michael: after the hearing, house minority leader, nancy pelosi said that her house colleagues had been wrong to pass the bill in 1996 and she praised edie. >> edie is a very courageous brave woman. it was a joy just to see her sitting there in the court held held high that her marriage and the fight that she is make for other people. this is as big as our country, as big as our constitution as big as being a beacon of equal propersian to the world. >> michael: the spineless cowards on the other side of the

aisle did not speak to the press, and john boehner said that house republicans would continue to defend doma. eric cantor and the rest of the laughable leadership didn't say anything at all. then again in washington polling speaks louder than anything, and the most recent polls show popular sentiment is moving against republicans. a significant number of americans want the supreme court to overturn doma. a cnn orc poll finds that 56% of americans think the federal government should recognize same-sex marriage. that is three points higher than last week ear cnn poll. more politicians are showing the political courage to support marriage equality. today kay hagan signaled her support for marriage equality. she is up for election next

year. with kagan on board there are now only nine democratic senator who aren't including two others seeking reelection next year. but we shouldn't let them off the took. senator sherrod brown opposed doma back in 1996 when it was first passed, and he managed to seep his seat in the house and go on to senate twice. that's courage. joining me now is aisha moodie mills of the center for american progress progress. she come us to from washington, d.c., where this is all happening. thank for being here aisha. >> glad to be here. thanks for having me. >> michael: how has doma impacted gay couples since it went into effect? >> well, essentially when you get mare thinked are over 11 hundred benefits of marriage which is one of the reasons why

folks get married in the united states, and with gay couples we are denied all of those. so being able to pass on our estate to be able to pass on our property when we pass away to our partner, to being able to adopt, co-adopt children together, file our taxes together, and benefit from the tax benefits that come along with being married we're treated completely unfairly and quite frankly given a burden because we're married. >> michael: how insulting is this argument on the other side about it hurting straight marriage. this isn't against gay people. we just want to protect straight marriage. >> i think i lost you. >> michael: i don't know if you can hear me now. but the argument they are making on the other side is that it is

somehow being done to protect straight marriage. listen, i'm divorced american. i'm -- my marriage didn't fall apart because gay people were getting married all over the place, so this is to me something that is the most ridiculous argument. i don't see how that is part of any kind of a logical strategy aisha. well i'm sorry, we have lost -- okay. we're going to come back, and try to get aisha moodie mills back. she of course is the lbgt policy advisor for center for american progress. the american people are not pleased with the way the folks on capitol hill do their job. we know that. who can blame them. eight in ten americans say that are unhappy with washington according to a cbs poll. but they don't blame the

president. 6 in 10 still view him favor bli. here is a really interesting finding. 56% of latinos actually have favorable view of congress and that's up 35% since november of 2011. it could be that the group is pleased that the gang of 8 have made progress on immigration reform. yesterday loamhand security secretary said there's essentially no way of measuring the progress. so the gang of 8 went out to check it out themselves. well, four of them did, and john mccain told reporters that the colleagues that didn't come were quote, jerks. chuck schumer was a little bit more diplomatic than mccain. >> we believe that the american people are very much against

illegal immigration, but would be generous and fair when it comes to legal immigration and the people who are here living in the shadows. >> michael: maybe they'll muster the courage to actually act on the will of the people. and turning to senator ted cruz who has not surprisingly shown very little courage on the issue of guns since arriving to the senate. now senate majority leader harry reid is using cruz's own words against him. they posted this video of a fox news interview cruz did in january. >> right now a lot of local jurisdictions are not reporting criminal convictions or mental health barriers, so the federal record are not as good as it should be.

>> michael: he is now backtracking. the really troubling thing is that he was actually right in that interview a better background check system might have flagged aurora shooter james holmes who announced he will plead guilty to avoid the death penalty. but hunters across the nation are vowing to boycott the state because of the recent gun legislation. wow. coming up on "the war room," this is your grandfather's republican party, and that's a problem. the campaign manager of young conservatives for the freedom to marry would like to see some changes to all of that and he'll join us next. plus the last time i checked the supreme court did not overturn roe v. wade, either someone forgot to tell state

legislatures that or they just don't give a damn. and hate groups are growing haith crimes are on the rise as a result. all of that and much more just ahead in "the war room." bs'ing them with some hidden agenda, actually supporting one party or the other. when the democrats are wrong, they know that i'm going to be the first one to call them out. they can question whether i'm right, but i think that the audience gets that this guy, to the best of his ability, is trying to look out for us. [ male announcer ] it's red lobster's lobsterfest our largest selection of lobster entrees like lobster lover's dream or new grilled lobster and lobster tacos. come in now and sea food differently. now, buy one lobsterfest entree and get one 1/2 off with a coupon at redlobster.com.

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you know who is coming on to me now? you know the kind of guys that do reverse mortgage commercials? those types are coming on to me all the time now. (vo) she gets the comedians laughing and the thinkers thinking. >>ok, so there's wiggle room in the ten commandments, that's what you're saying. you would rather deal with ahmadinejad than me.

>>absolutely. >> and so would mitt romney. (vo) she's joy behar. >>and the best part is that current will let me say anything. what the hell were they thinking? >> michael: it's not just the supreme court grappling with the morality and poll ticks of same-sex marriage while most americans and democrats have come around on the issue, the republican party has not. take steve king he tried to boil it down to a marriage licensing issue. >> a license is by definition a permit to do that which is otherwise illegal. a license to drive, a license to fish, a license to hunt a license to cut hair a license to do brain surgery, or a license to join the bar, or

actually own a bar. >> michael: maybe equating marriage to owning a bar or hunting does more to damage the institute of marriage than same-sex vows do, congressman. and that was not the answer to some trick question. king posted that scripted argument on his own website. the republican national committee and karl rove know comments from king and his illth are turning away potential donors. here is one quote . . . so is equality the latest political gateway drug? our next guest is tyler deaton is the campaign manager for the young conservatives for the freedom to marry. he come us to from washington, d.c. tyler welcome into "the war

room" tonight. >> thanks, mike for having me on. good afternoon. >> and to you. some argue that the gop's core values are incompatible with giving same-sex couples the right to marry. what is your take? >> i believe those are old arguments. i think we have the opportunity to get back to our roots, so focus on individual freedom. >> michael: what is the conservative definition of freedom to marry, a 50-state solution or the federal route? >> i believe that the definition of marriage itself is all about love and commitment. and marriage itself is a fairly conservative institution. that's one reason why the conservative movement should embrace the question. as far as what should happen

with marriage in america, we believe there should be a constitutional freedom to marry here in the united states. our hope is that every gay and lesbian couple in the united states can have the freedom to marry. >> michael: i want to ask you this then. why try to change the republican party on this issue than -- you know than go to the democratic party? try to change them on the other conservative issues because they are so welcoming to the cause that you believe in. >> because there are things about the conservative movement that i and many others value. personal freedom lower taxes, getting government out of the way of small business owners. so for us to say that we believe in consistent conservatism means that we think a big onerous burdensome government shouldn't be involved in your personal relationships, so when you decide to marry the person you love whether that's a man or a woman that should be your decision and the government

should stay out of it. >> michael: i want to go one more with you on that. it's easy to say you are a conservative. you are a conservative. clearly those are values that you hold dear, but the party that represents conservatism in america right now doesn't value that at all. so i don't understand why you don't say screw you guys, you are not paying at attention to us, i'm going to go where i will be treated like a first class citizen and try to change the democrats minds. >> i don't think that's what the party is based on -- >> michael: and that's fair. you are probably right about that. but they don't want you there. >> and i don't think that that's as true as it used to be. the republican party at its core respects individual freedom. now i do believe that the republican party has gone astray

on this issue especially with lbgt rights. we're working very hard to correct that. i think all of the recent polling points to a lot of success in that area. last week, abc came out with a poll. 50% of republican primary voters under the age of 50 support the freedom to marry. in that same poll we learned that 64% of young evangelical voters support the freedom to marry. so this idea that the freedom to marry hasn't had a home in the republican party, that idea is going away very quickly. >> michael: i would argue that it is going away but i don't know how quickly it is going away. >> i would just say they would point to a lot of recent smooil milestones. in new hampshire we had a vote last year, where the majority of the republicans elected to the state house a agreed with the

freedom to marry. >> michael: i guess there's so much pushback that i find it puzzling, that's all. but i understand what you are saying, and you make a good argument from where you are coming from. i'm just puzzle by the fact that there is so much pushback yet tea party and log cabin republicans remain in your party rather than going wells. mike huckabee warned that evangelicals could leave the party over this issue. here is his reasoning. >> nobody is homophobic that i know of. but many of us base our standards not on the latest "washington post" poll but on an objective standard not a subjective standard. >> michael: you did just show that young evangelicals are in

favor, but it does beg the question is the party homophobic. >> i'll go back to what i just said 64% of evangelicals. they overwhelmingly support the freedom to marry. i respect governor huckabee. he has a lot of great things to say about a lot of issues. on this he is just wrong, and it is also important for him to clarify what he says about an objective standard versus a subjective standard. we believe it is the right thing to do. we believe the government should leave people alone to make the decision of who they want to marry, and that's a very conservative principle. >> michael: i see what you are saying, it goes to personal freedom. another poll nund 1-- found that

1 in 4 republicans are unhappy with their party. >> i'm surprised it's only 1 in 4. many republicans i talk to are very dissatisfied with the party. they have a lot of growth to do on this and many other issues. >> michael: and this is a generational divide as you mentioned. how have fellow republicans responded to your outreach efforts, with what you are doing with your group? >> well, our coalition and specifically young people we're identified as under 40, next-generation leaders of the conservative movement. we believe it is incumbent on these young leaders to call on the current leaders to make this

change now. we think there is real harm being done. and obviously there's a bit of a generational divide, but we think if we keep pushing on that and keep sharing our message, eventually many of these people will change its mind and has been happening. country is on a journey right now. when the defense of marriage act was passed many democrats supported it. so we have all been on a your journey, and for some individuals this issue takes a while to come around on. what is important is we stay focused and if we do that the conservative movement will change. >> michael: do you think that journey's last landing place will be in the gop's party platform in the future in maybe in even 2016? >> i don't know when it will

happen, but it will happen and there are many of us who care deeply about changing the republican party platform to be more inclusive and that will shape up to be a large fight in 2016. >> michael: it's a brave thing you are doing, so i really app mire that. tyler deaton thank for coming into "the war room." up next of all of the state laws restricting a woman's right to choose north dakota's make us wince the most. kathy hawken will join us on that after the break. if you believe in state's rights but still believe in the drug war you must be high. >> only on current tv. dude, i need your help fast. well, clearasil's fast. yeah, but is it this fast? faster! how about this fast? clearasil's faster! this fast?? faster!!

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♪ >> michael: for years opponents of abortion rights have been

methodically chipping away at roe v. wade using state laws. they have mated harder and harder for women to exercise their legal right to abortion. under roe v. wade abortion is legal, until a fetus can survive outside of the woman. the fetal heart beat bill was signed into law by right-wing rep -- center fieldive from north dakota. the center for reproductive rights says it plans to challenge the new law. we'll see if this brings the abortion issue back to the steps of the supreme court.

joining me now via skype, is state representative kathy hawken, a representative who voted against the bill. thank you for being here. >> thanks for having me. >> michael: how do you feel about the governor signing this bill? >> i was hoping -- it is unconstitutional. we have a motion that will go to the people in 2014 for a vote, that's personhood and the fact that there were so many people who stood up and said this is a personal issue, not a political issue, and i -- i was really hopeful that he would veto this bill. >> michael: he has got to be -- you're a republican in north dakota. we're not talking about california here i expect you know the governor. did this surprise you? >> i wasn't sure what he would

do. like i said i was hopeful that he would veto him. i laugh at your comment about him being right-wing. i would say a lot of people within the republican party would say he is extremely moderate. >> michael: well, we are coming from san francisco. >> oh, yes. we'll reevaluate that. >> michael: the governor said quote . . . do you think it's in your state's best interest to spend money defending these bills? >> no, i really don't, and i think that's one of the biggest concerns and in my opinion was one of the reasons why there would have been room for veto. we're very fortunate with the oil we have here, and we do have dollars. but we should be funding our education structure, and the needs that we have due to the oil boom.

and i would love to see us put money into child care so we have that quality there, mutt better than putting it into a lawsuit, which we figure is going to be in the millions. are at least three bills that the attorney general will have to defend. >> michael: you have served in the house for 17 years. why is this happening in north dakota now? >> i think we're a very conservative state. and a low-population state. i have 13,000 constituents. it's a little easier here and i think that's part of the reason and we are conservative there's no doubt about that. >> michael: that's an interesting answer and one i never think about when wondering why these things happen in states like kansas and north dakota, aside from the conservatism is the low number of constituents per legislator and that's unusual, and certainly facilitates that happening. pro life republican curtis

olafson blocked the state-wide abortion ban in north dakota because he didn't think it could withstand the constitutional challenge. and then he lost his seat and they said, quote . . . like curtis olafson you are opposing anti-abortion legislation. could this be dangerous for you politically? >> i'm not worried about it politically, what i am saying i believe is what a number of my constituents believe. that's certainly the world i am getting. is that it is a personal choice. whether you believe you are pro life or strictly pro choice it is your choice.

it is a perfectly legal medical procedure, and we're trying to make it illegal, and that's -- it's counter intuitive. it makes no sense. we wouldn't make breast cancer orb prostate surgery illegal, and yet in this instance we are. and the personhood takes out the value of the invitro all of the babies that get to come in the world, that people who want them have this wonderful medical ability to have a child. organ transplants, end of life there are so many issues that come into this, and we're not thinking past the pro test kinds of things that we win this. because as you look forward, the consequences can be huge and that's really, really part of my concern. >> michael: yeah and your concerns certainly resinate with

me. have you felt threatened by the supporters of these bills at all? >> i'm probably not on their top ten list. >> michael: i hear ya. it's not just the pro life groups, the pro life nonprofit law firm has offered to help. >> i'm sorry that we didn't make different decisions and alleviate the need for anybody from the outside to be here and instead we should be building north dakota. that's what we were elected to do, and that's what we should be doing. >> michael: i really appreciate your courage. >> i have got daughter and granddaughters. got to do it. >> michael: all right. thanks again, state representative, kathy hawken. up next in the war room, hate groups have a long and disturbing history in this

country. and history seems to be repeating itself. that story is next right here in "the war room."

♪ >> michael: people were shocked by the murder of tom clemens the head of colorado's department of corrections last week. the suspect, evan ebel who was gunned down police two days later was a member of a white superist prison gang. many now wonder whether the murder was organized and ordered by an imprisoned gang late leader. but hate groups are a problem within the united states as a whole. according to the southern poverty hate center, the number of hate groups is on the rise. the number of conspiracy-minded

anti-government militia groups has risen even more significantly. and that number keeps growing as our nation's demographics change. joining me now to discuss the rise of hate groups is mark potok. mark is the senior fellow at the southern poverty law center. and he joins us from montgomery alabama where the center is located. welcome inside "the war room," mark. >> a real pleasure to be here. >> michael: is it a coincidence that the number of right-wing white hate groups has surged since we el elected a black president? >> no it's not a coincidence. in 2008 we had 149 of these so-called patriot groups or militia groups. in 2009 that number jumped to

512, and kept rising through his presidency. it is very much connected to obama, not only the person, but as you suggested in your intro, to what he represents the changing demographics of this country. the idea that whites will lose their majority by 2023, and playing into these groups has been the collapse of the economy which began right around the same time. >> michael: that's an interesting part of it that one would think wouldn't come into play, is the economic times would create these groups. has the geography changed of these groups? >> yeah, in a general sense, yes. what it is not is a southern phenomenon. if you look at the map of groups that we public on our website

and look at where the patriot groups are and jorngs they are fairly evenly spread around the country. the groups tend to follow population population. the exception to that is the big cities, where you get only very particular types of groups new york city, or baltimore or san francisco, you are not going to find the klan or militia groups, but you will find neo neo-nazis and other groups. the fact is, is that we completed our counts for 2012 even before the debate on gun control that grow out of the december newtown, connecticut massacre occurred. so in january as this talk was heating up we saw just an astounding reaction on the part

of these groups. i mean it was really pouring racing fuel on to the fire. and it's not only on the radical fringes of society. we have had something like 500 sheriffs, mostly in western states, say they will not enforce any potential gun-control legislation out of the federal government. that of course is what their job is to enforce the law. we have 20 states which are either considering or in the process of passing so-called null ification laws. >> michael: do these groups have any political power and if so with which party does it fall? >> it's not that the groups have power as groups per se.

what it really is, though what we have really seen is how people on the political right, but still considered within the main stream in this country, be they politicians, cable news pundits or whatever it may be, the part they have played in taking ideas that originate in tiny little groups on the marges of our society and bringing them into the political main stream. there is a very small hate group in california that concocted the idea that mexico has a secret plan to invade the southwest. there is no such plan but after that was presented by fact by lou dobbs on cnn a couple of years ago, it was presented as a real thing to millions and millions of americans. there is a theory pushed by the john burks society that a un

plan called agenda 21 is really a secret plot to strip away american's property rights and impose marxism on this country. in january 2012 the republican national committee adopted opposition to the quote insidious plan agenda 21 as part of their platform. and the bottom line reality is agenda 21 has no enforceable obligations whatsoever. it forces no one to do anything and yet it is being portrayed in the main stream as this terrible plan to impose socialism on our country. >> michael: it's sort of a back channel influence that these groups have. when you follow these groups as you monitor these groups for example the one in mexico what does the center do other than just keep abreast of what these groups do? do they get involved in trying

to stop them? or change their minds? >> we say openly that our purpose is to weaken, to marginalize, and if possible to destroy these groups. so we have made something of a name for ourselves in suing klan groups right out of exist importance, about a thousand of them. we will use the techniques of investigative journalism to show the rank hypocrisy of some of the groups the groups who you find a klan leader who secretly has a black girlfriend. so the outrageous things that they will say. the national liance immediately after the plane struck the world trade center in new york on 9/11, emailed all of his members that he only wished his people

had half of the testicular fort tuesday. so we use that information to weaken and destroy these groups when we can. >> michael: last week the department of justice released some interesting numbers. are nearly 250,000 hate crimes every year in america, and one in three go unreported. what do you make of those numbers coming out of justice? >> well, they are very very important until about ten years ago, we had no numbers but the fbi national hate crime statistics, which represents as volunteer law enforcement reporting system and showed somewhere between 6,000 and 10,000 hate crimes a year. now we have these much more detailed studies by the justice department's bureau of justice statistics and this new one in particular they have really refined the techniques of looking at the statistics and what they find as you suggested is that the real numbers are

some 30 to 40 times higher what the fbi has been reporting. and i don't criticize the fbi for that, they are merely publishing state numbers. but what might have been seen as a minor social problem is a real major social problem. and as you said, only one in three are in fact ever reported to police. so that's a pretty remarkable statistic. >> michael: it absolutely is, and it makes me wonder are you guys there in montgomery out there on your own, or is the justice department doing enough to combat hate groups and hate crimes? >> as a general matter i would say the justice department and law enforcement around the country have done a pretty good job, especially since the 1995 oklahoma okay bombing. up to that moment i think many police officials would spout

that realtorist -- real terrorists didn't look like every day white citizens. there was a report produced by dhs, leaked to the right-wing blog-o-sphere, and then dhs withdrew the report, and what has result is very weak intelligence coming out of dhs with regard to these groups. >> michael: mark potok i could sit and talk with him all night long. he is fighting a fight that makes america a better place. thank you so much, mark. a quick break and then we'll get

to brett ehrlich. world of privilege. >> everyone in michael jackson's life was out to use him. (vo) no one brings you more documentaries that are real, gripping, current.

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♪ >> michael: well, it looks like hollywood's gain is washington's loss. this afternoon we learned that ashley judd will not return for the senate in kentucky. the outspoken democrat ended the speculation with a message on twitter saying she needs to focus on her family. she says she will work during the campaign to return mitch mcconnell's seat to the people and familiar list of kentucky. tax day is coming at us at warp

speed and the irs has come under attack for wasting your money. so everyone please try to relax, because commander brett ehrlich is now talking. ♪ >> captain's log, it has been five days sibs the irs has released an internal star track parody video that cost taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars to produce, and william shatner is criming in. so i watched that irs video, i am appalled. set phasers to stunned. the video was shot on a very elaborate set, and features irs employees in full garb mixing tax humor and star trek jokes. >> they are dying down there. >> they call it the tax gap.

>> coffee while you wait sir, better than mcdonald's and only twice the price. >> i have no idea what you are referencing. the irs released a statement saying . . . really >> we're drying engines as fast as we can. >> but the irs refuses to apologize for a more instructional albeit equally elaborate gilligan island's video. >> the skipper and i are stating this with everybody, we have been in contact with the ss continuing the voyage. and it will be here soon so we have to get our stuff together so we can join the crew. >> you should see the part where they run out of main goes and have to eat the w-2 guide. i understand that making videos

is cheaper than training people in person. but if you are going to make a parody video, make the right one. in my opinion the best tv show is not "gilligan's island." it's "lost." it convoluted and confusing, and if you miss something it is going to cost you. i'm done talking now. ♪ >> michael: he always finds the gems. brett ehrlich. someone is always in our war room, check us out at current.com/thewarroom. that's also where you can link up to our twitter and facebook page. thanks for joining us here in "the war room." have a great night. we'll be back tomorrow. "the young turks" are next right here. ♪

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